Compile a 'Best of . . . ' for your favourite band

Hydrazoic Acid

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The Best of Iron Maiden

Sanctuary
Running Free
Phantom of the Opera
Charlotte The Harlot
Iron Maiden
Acacia Avenue
The Number of the Beast
Run to the Hills
Hallowed Be Thy Name
Revelations
Flight of Icarus
The Trooper
Aces High
2 Minutes to Midnight
Powerslave
Rime of the Ancient Mariner
Caught Somewhere in Time
Wasted Years
Stranger In A Strange Land
Deja-Vu
Alexander the Great
The Evil That Men Do
Seventh Son of a Seventh Son
The Clairvoyant
Only the Good Die Young
Bring Your Daughter… To The Slaughter
Mother Russia
Afraid to Shoot Strangers
Fear Is the Key
Wasting Love
Chains of Misery
Fear of the Dark
Sign Of The Cross
The Mercenary
The Nomad
Out of the Silent Planet
No More Lies
Dance of Death
Paschendale
These Colours Don't Run
For the Greater Good of God
 

Mr. Bob Dobolina

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My favorite thirty by The Monkees:

1. Papa Gene's Blues
2. Hard To Believe
3. Pleasant Valley Sunday
4. Words
5. Tomorrow's Gonna Be Another Day
6. Carlisle Wheeling
7. (I'm Not Your) Stepping Stone
8. Randy Scouse Git
9. I'll Spend My Life With You
10. Prithee
11. Love Is Only Sleeping
12. Dream World
13. For Pete's Sake
14. She
15. Shades Of Grey
16. Goin' Down
17. Mommy and Daddy
18. I Won't Be The Same Without Her
19. You and I
20. The Crippled Lion
21. Forget That Girl
22. The Porpoise Song
23. What Am I Doing Hanging Around
24. So Goes Love
25. Don't Wait For Me
26. Daydream Believer
27. Daily Nightly
28. Sometime In The Morning
29. Tapioca Tundra
30. Star Collector
 

darklands

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Some of these 'Best of's' are rather long (like some I've done!) - only Jonny Come Lately seems to have gone strictly with a single CD.
Anyway - I'll go with the over-trend and - here's one I prepared earlier (there've been several incarnations of my Best of UFO):

01. Couldn't Get It Right
02. This Fire Burns Tonight
03. Shoot Shoot
04. Only You Can Rock Me
05. Cherry
06. Getting Ready
07 Gone In The Night
08. Let It Rain
09. Electric Phase
10. Love To Love
11. Back Into My Life
12. The Wild, The Willing & The Innocent
13. Ain't No Baby
14. Lookin' Out For No. 1
15. Out In The Street
16. Youngblood
17. Just Another Suicide
18. Lights Out
19. One More For The Rodeo
20. No Place To Run
21. Take It Or Leave It
22. Long Gone
23. Lonely Heart
24. Doing It All For You
25. Born To Lose
26. Profession Of Violence


Youngblood - really like this, but the chorus is so wimpy, especially after the intro which I used to love - the first chorus is such a let down, it could've been so much better.
No Doctor Doctor or Rock Bottom - both boring (tho' better on SITN). Oh, I like 'Melinda' too (a cover version on the first album) - except for the naff gun-fire at the end.
Obsession and The Wild... (and Lights Out) are probably over-represented.... oh well.
Don't know whether I've actually burned this compilation, so not totally sure if the ordering works. My last attempt ran to three CDs! A single 80-minute disc would be difficult; this version fits easily onto 2 CDs.
 

darklands

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Cool, I was planning to start a thread along these lines but since there's already one I might as well post my ideas here:

Best Of Pink Floyd (1970-80)
1. In The Flesh? (3:18) (The Wall, 1979)
2. Shine On You Crazy Diamond (Parts I-V) (13:33) (Wish You Were Here, 1975)
3. Time/Breathe (Reprise) (6:53) (The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)
4. Another Brick In The Wall (Part 2) (3:58) (The Wall, 1979)
5. Pigs On The Wing (8-track version with Snowy White guitar solo) (3:25) (Animals, 1977)
6. Comfortably Numb (6:22) (The Wall, 1979)
7. Money (6:23) (The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)
8. Us And Them (7:49) (The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)
9. Run Like Hell (4:23) (The Wall, 1979) (why wasn't this on the Echoes compilation?!?)
10. Have A Cigar (5:08) (Wish You Were Here)
11. Wish You Were Here (5:33) (Wish You Were Here, 1975) (including the radio introduction)
12. One Of These Days (5:56) (Meddle, 1971)
13. Brain Damage (3:46) (The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)
14. Eclipse (2:13) (The Dark Side Of The Moon, 1973)

Overall this comes out at a running time of 78 minutes 40 seconds. I've tried to put this in the most logical order I can come up. If necessary time could be saved by removing the Breathe (Reprise), editing Shine On... or fading out Wish You Were Here or Another Brick In The Wall earlier.

I'll stick to the 1970s as I think Pink Floyd's music before and after this period doesn't mesh well with the songs from this era, the older music is stylistically too different, while The Final Cut and A Momentary Lapse of Reason are both solo albums in spirit (The Divison Bell isn't, but is out of place with the songs here which mostly have Waters lyrics).

Omissions:
- The three main tracks from Animals - Dogs, Pigs (Three Different Ones) and Sheep - I think these only really work in the context of the album.
- Echoes, if we're going on absolute quality this is one of their finest tracks, but it's too long to include on a single disc without having to make numerous other compromises, and an edited version just wouldn't be as good.
- Breathe, although I could be accommodated if judicious edits were made.
- Hey You, Mother, Welcome To The Machine and The Great Gig In The Sky, just wasn't enough time left to fit these in, I would have liked to though.
- The Happiest Days Of Our Lives, not really essential Pink Floyd and I think starting ABITW II with the scream would work okay.
- Anything from Atom Heart Mother or Obscured By Clouds. Nothing on these two is quite strong enough to justify being included ahead of the strongest tracks on the albums included. If this was a two CD version then Fat Old Sun or If from AHM would have a fair chance of making the cut though.

One slight tweak I'd make would be to include the heartbeat from Eclipse at the start of In The Flesh, while putting 'Isn't this where...' at the end of Eclipse to create a fully cyclic compilation.

Bit of a delayed response (6 years...!) - don't agree with all your choices (esp. the Snowy White version of Pigs on the Wing), but applaud your attempt at a single disc. I guess you were strictly trying to compile a 'real' (commercial) Best of, rather than just chosing your favourite tracks. Think I'd have gone for a double disc - and then probably struggled! Just checked - my latest Best of has 38 tracks (around 235 mins - so, 3 CDs??). I haven't discluded The Final Cut (even though your argument is valid). I'll see if I can whittle it down (difficult with SOYCD 1 and Dogs in there....) and post the result.
 

darklands

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Don't think anyone's done Rainbow (in this thread anyway).
Here's a list I had (mainly disc 1 of a two CDs Best Of that I did). Ditched a couple of live (On Stage) tracks (Catch the Rainbow / Still I'm Sad), so just studio tracks.
Black Sheep of the Family and Still I'm Sad discounted cos not Rainbow originals. Since You Been Gone, likewise I guess (think I'd leave it in - though it does take the compilation slightly over 80 mins).

Best of (early to mid period) Rainbow (ends, rather arbitrarily [maybe?]) at Down to Earth:

01. Man on the Silver Mountain
02. Catch the Rainbow
03. The Temple of the King
04. Sixteen Century Greensleeves
05. Tarot Woman
06. Run With the Wolf
07. Stargazer
08. Long Live Rock 'n' Roll
09. L.A. Connection
10. Gates of Babylon
11. Kill the King
12. All Night Long
13. Eyes of the World
[14. Since You Been Gone]
15. Love's No Friend
16. Lost in Hollywood

Anyone, feel free to dispute this list - it's all arbitrary / personal / subjective....
Running order, purely 'chronological', works OK I think; not sure that tracks from Down to Earth would mix well with those from 1st album. Obviously a live version of the above could be good. I think Rainbow is quite easy to do; most of the choices are quite obvious (though I know many would include Light in the Black [too keyboardey for me]).
 

darklands

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Velvet Underground: a single CD Best of that I made a few years ago. Note: it's a Velvet Underground 'Lite', specifically avoiding the 'difficult' stuff. I realise that that's almost missing the point of the VU, but it was also intended for non-VU fans to listen to (and 'European Son', 'The Gift', 'Sister Ray' and even 'Heroin' would most likely put non-afficianados off for life - it has to be realised that the VU are [were] a gradually-aquired taste).
I still hesitate to post this, as it's missing stuff like 'Venus in Furs' & 'Heroin' [the other aforementioned tracks, and all the other tracks missed from the first album!] and, arguably, overly heavy on the later albums [I'm Sticking With You!]; remember it's 'designed' to be an accessible intro (rather than a definitive Best of'):

1. Sunday Morning
2. I'm Waiting For The Man
3. Run Run Run
4. All Tomorrow's Parties
5. There She Goes Again
6. I'll Be Your Mirror
7. White Light / White Heat
8. I Heard Her Call My Name
9. Candy Says
10. What Goes On
11. Pale Blue Eyes
12. Beginning To See The Light
13. I'm Set Free
14. I Can't Stand It
15. I'm Sticking With You
16. Sweet Jane
17. Rock & Roll
18. New Age

Feel free to disagree / suggest what should've been on here (I'll probably agree!)
 

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